The Bulls' chances of pulling an upset will hinge on their readiness at tipoff.

In the early going against Charlotte, the Bulls "got a little bit demoralized because we weren't rebounding up front and we weren't making layups up front," Skiles said. "They were stripping the ball from us. That's what concerned me the most."

Hinrich, who sprained his left ankle against the Bobcats but returned to practice Friday, offered a similar analysis.

"A lot of our turnovers are because we're being too passive, not because we're being too aggressive," he said.

On some nights, especially against vastly improved Eastern Conference teams, the Bulls' biggest asset will be their tenacity. If they lose that, double-digit losses could pile up quickly.

The players have their toughness tested in practices, which are known for being competitive and sometimes grueling under Skiles.

"We practice hard almost every day, but that will have nothing to do with whether we're ready," Skiles said.

Being young and inexperienced isn't a valid excuse anymore.

"I just watched Andrew Bogut be big-time ready in his first two games," Skiles said of the Bucks rookie who scored 23 points and pulled down 26 rebounds in two games. "I think some of it is just youth and some of it is just knowing how to be ready to play. It's something we definitely need work on."

Skiles was reminded that the team still is adjusting to new players, but he wasn't buying it.

"They're paid a lot of money to perform when the ball goes up," he said. "When it goes up, you have to be ready. You have to do whatever's necessary to be ready."

Hinrich's return, despite lingering pain and tenderness in his ankle, is critical, in part because he enjoyed a fair amount of success against the Nets last season, averaging 22.3 points in four games.

"But we probably lost all of them," Hinrich said.

Indeed, the Bulls went 0-4 against New Jersey last season and have won there once in the last seven seasons.

The Bulls expect to have their hands full with Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson. Carter averaged 30.5 points in his last two games against the Bulls.

"They have many ways of scoring," Luol Deng said. "One guy isn't going to cover them. You have to take them out of their rhythm and make them uncomfortable."

Deng, a second-year player, acknowledges a tendency to dwell on his mistakes. In that regard, he's like some of his teammates. Tyson Chandler has admitted to doing the same.

"You make a couple of mistakes and then you think about it," Chandler said. "What I have to learn is not to think about it.

"We're going to get better as the season goes on . . . the sooner the better."